Most backpacks, especially those for overnight backpacking, contain a compartment covered by a flap which zips on three sides so that the flap comes down. Furthermore, most campers require a supply of sundry items and other personal items such as toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, mirror and other sundry items. However, most backpacks do not contain a separate compartment for storing sundry items in an organized, easily accessible manner, to keep these sundry items in place. Furthermore, backpacks do not have a detachable compartment for taking sundry items out of the backpack, such as to a washroom lavatory. Without such a removable pouch for organizing sundry items, the storage of multiple sundry items may interfere substantially with other articles packed into the pack compartment or may be difficult to access or even find.
Various prior art patents include U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,447 of McDermott discloses a backpack 1 with a removable pouch 25. However, VELCRO.RTM. fasteners attach the pouch 25 to the exterior of the backpack. It requires a separate tether 50 to keep it in place upon the backpack 1. Furthermore, there is no description of the pouch 25 having subcompartments for personal sundry items.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,873 of Schweitzer describes a backpack with a separate interior pouch 32. The backpack can be turned inside out so that pouch 32 becomes a storage compartment for the backpack therein. However the pouch 32 is not removable from the backpack.
A similar "inside out" arrangement is disclosed for a handbag in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,612 of Shoemaker. However, there is no removable pouch.
Removable pouches are disclosed in three additional patents, namely, U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,130 of Coates for a foldable diaper bag with a removable, VELCRO.RTM. attached water proof pouch 44 for storing soiled diapers therein, U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,365 of Siegel for an organizer handbag with subcompartments, including removable pouch 130 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,869 of Saltzman for an infant diaper bag 12 with a detachable minibag 14.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,571 of Rademacher disclosed a sleeping bag 10 which has at its head portion a removable sundry pouch 19. The pouch 19 is specifically designated for personal items such as a toothbrush, hair comb, etc. See column 2 lines 35-44 of the text. It includes VELCRO.RTM. fasteners 20. It doesn't address having subcompartments within pouch 19.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,106 of Plath discloses a camera carry bag with removable compartments.
Other travel bags, some with removable compartments, are noted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,143 of Mahvi, 5,062,557 also of Mahvi, 4,756,394 of Cohen and 4,087,102 of Sprague.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,975 of Holbrook discloses a blanket that folds to a carry bag and U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,986 of Schildkraut discloses a portable sundry pouch with subcompartments for personal care items, such as audio cassettes, money, keys, and suntan lotion.
Other backpacks with removable pouches include U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,279 of Brown for a cooler back pack with a removable ice container 10 and food container 20.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,537 of Bufalo describes a backpack with a removable, compartmentalized organizer container. However, there is no provision for the organizer container to be attached to a backpack flap and it contains little, rigid slidable drawers.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,537 of Sciacca discloses a compartmentalized knapsack with removable drawers pans. However, it does not disclose a single pouch with subcompartments for sundry items, wherein the pouch is removably attached to a flap of the backpack, so that it is peripherally accessible to the user, without having to rummage through the interior contents of the backpack.